How to Market a Hotel Using Virtual Reality

LOS ANGELES—How do you win the stay? As hotels compete against one another and OTAs for market share, it’s become a vital question.

One way is to leverage visual mediums to reach and engage with new and current audiences. Show My Property (SMP), helmed by founder and CEO Anna Singleton, aims to do just that.

The video marketing company’s audience is composed of hotels, multifamily apartments and luxury homes. Clients include hotel chains such as Sheraton and Crowne Plaza, as well as boutique hotels.

“Show My Property has been around for seven years. We have been shooting high-end videos for luxury apartments nationwide. We added hotels around two years ago. We offer high-end videos, virtual reality, social media and photography,” said Singleton.

Enticing viewers is the name of the game, and video marketing is one of the players.

“SMP found that most hotels just weren’t using video to show off and tell a story. Guests want to see beautiful shots, images, actors and drone shots and be told a story. Selling a property using a compelling story is subtle, and we nailed it after doing this for years for luxury apartments. We understand how to tell a story using buildings,” said Singleton.

One of SMP’s selling points for hoteliers is pricing. Singleton explained that the company doesn’t charge travel fees, making the opportunity potentially more affordable than its competitors.

“We charge almost a quarter of what an ad agency would charge, and we produce a better video product. We specialize in real estate and hotels—it’s all we do. We can make it affordable as we are so focused,” she said.

Having built a network of creatives and a portfolio of luxury apartments worldwide, Singleton noted that entering the hotel industry was a natural next step.

“I love to travel and had always wanted to focus on hotels, so, really, it was just a matter of time,” she said. “We are very excited to keep serving the hotel market. We love clients who want to break the mold and try something different with their videos. We are excited to show our clients our custom video social media product, too. We are also shooting lots of exciting content in virtual reality. Imagine a video in 360 degrees with beautiful actors showing off the space.”

Current Issue

Editor-in-Chief Christina Trauthwein shares highlights of the March 21 issue, which features stories on Best Western’s acquisition of WorldHotels, Airbnb’s plan to buy HotelTonight, and an interview with industry icon Horst Schulze, among other stories.